Chapter 28: The Nudist Candidate

The morning after Eveline’s 2nd appearance on “City-Chat with Giselle” aired, Nancy decided the moment had come to pitch the idea of Eveline participating in the upcoming City Council election as a candidate.

At first Eveline thought the idea was totally absurd. However, Nancy reminded her that her contract stipulated she needed to make herself available to whatever publicity campaign in which the auction house wanted her to participate, and a political candidacy was nothing more then another type of publicity.

OK, if she was going to be a political candidate, what issues would she pursue? Nancy responded that since nudism was usually associated with a healthy lifestyle, Eveline’s platform would revolve around promoting health-related and environmental issues in the county. As a student, she would also be in a position to talk about the need to improve public education. She’d stick with local issues, stuff that would make sense to any reasonable person.

A nude politician. A strange idea, but she had seen modeling agencies come up with much crazier stunts than that. Eveline still thought the idea of a candidacy was absurd, but if Nancy considered it necessary for publicity, the model was obligated by her contract to go along with the idea.

Sure, why not? She really didn’t mind. She’d perform for the public as a political candidate, just like she had to perform for her coach and just like she had to perform for her employer. She seriously doubted she had any chance of winning, but she figured that she’d humor everyone. Nancy needed publicity for her company, Coach Strickland needed more publicity for her sports program, and Giselle needed a good human-interest story. They each had their reasons to put her in front of the microphone.

Eveline registered as a candidate for the upcoming election to City Council. She had wondered about the legality of giving speeches in the nude, but it turned out there would be no problem. The Tri-County area was one of the few places in the US that had no legal restrictions against public nudity, even for an aspiring politician giving speeches on TV.

Eveline’s question at the registrar’s office would be the last time in her life she would wonder about wearing any clothing. Apparently it would never happen. Never again would she cover any part of her body. It was the destiny of Eveline Rogers to always be totally exposed, no matter where she was or what she was doing. Being naked had become an important part of her identity. It was how the world saw her, and it was how she saw herself. And she realized that she no longer wanted to cover herself. She had made the transition from being a reluctant nudist to being a dedicated nudist.

As she walked outside, she saw that Giselle and Nancy had everything set up for her to publicly announce her candidacy. Strickland and Jenny were present as well to give her support. Jenny went up on the platform, just as naked as her teammate, a detail that helped calm Eveline’s nerves.

Eveline cleared her mind and started performing for her mentors. She spoke about issues she would be pursuing if she were elected, better financing for schools, an integrated physical fitness program for all students, improvements to the county’s parks and nature preserves, stricter controls on food quality, pollution regulations, and financial incentives for local farming cooperatives. She promoted increasing funding for the very programs her opponents wanted to cut.

There was irony in what was happening. Eveline was calm precisely because she thought she had no hope of winning the election. She’d speak about issues important to her and then settle back into her routine after the election was over. She would have been much more nervous if she had realized that she really was a serious candidate challenging a compromised incombant.